Insulated cabinet construction for vending machines or the like

ABSTRACT

An insulated cabinet for vending machines or the like employs an improved construction for an insulated door per se and improved means for effecting a heat seal between such door and the wall structure of the cabinet and for releasably retaining such door in a closed position relative to such wall structure. The door is formed from a pair of spaced metallic panels having an edging strip of heat insulative material extending therebetween about the periphery thereof, with the interior of such door assembly filled with heat insulative foam material suitably interlocked with both the panels and the edging strip. The wall structure is provided at the zone thereof within which the door is received when in its closed position with a sealing gasket of heat insulative material having a plurality of spaced resilient fingers extending from the wall structure toward the space to be occupied by the door when in closed condition, so that such fingers will engage the edging strip of the door along spaced areas of the latter to provide heat insulative air chambers circumscribing the peripheral edge of the door, with such fingers being deflected in a direction upwardly of the cabinet to releasably hold the door in its closed condition. The construction is particularly advantageous for use in vending machine cabinets having relatively thin insulated walls and employing an outer door as well as an inner door with the latter being insulated, of thickness substantially equal to that of the main cabinet wall structure and desirably mountable in manner such that it will clear the access opening to the cabinet when the doors are opened.

United States Patent ONeal et al.

1 1 Feb. 15, 1972 [54] INSULATED CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR VENDINGMACHINES OR THE LIKE [72] Inventors: Wilbert O. ONeal, Independence;Warren K. Weston, Lee's Summit, both of Mo.

[73] Assignee: The Vendo Company, Kansas City, Mo.

[22] Filed: July 31, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 60,050

[52] U.S. Cl ..220/9 F, 49/495, 312/214 [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 25/18 [58]Field of Search ..220/9 R, 9 F, 14; 312/214; 49/495 [56] ReferencesCited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,554,395 9/1925 Young ..220/9 R 1,883,60910/ 1 932 Dennis... ..49/495 2,190,954 2/1940 Stickel ..220/9 R2,266,703 12/1941 Cooper ....220/9 R X 2,348,379 5/1944 Goulooze.......220/9 R 2,679,944 6/ 1954 Morton ..220/9 R 3,142,405 7/1964 Johnson.....220/9 R 3,217,921 11/1965 Frehse 49/495 X 3,456,833 7/1969Cornelius ..220/9 F FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS 258,422 3/1965Australia ..49/495 510,320 4/1952 Belgium ..220/9 R PrimaryExaminerl.,eonard Summer Assistant Examiner.lames R. GarrettAttorneySchmidt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams [5 7] ABSTRACT An insulatedcabinet for vending machines or the like employs an improvedconstruction for an insulated door per se and improved meansforefi'ecting a heat seal between such door and the wall structure of thecabinet and for releasably retaining such door in a closed positionrelative to such wall structure. The door is formed from a pair ofspaced metallic panels having an edging strip of heat insulativematerial extending therebetween about the periphery thereof, with theinterior of such door assembly filled with heat insulative foam materialsuitably interlocked with both the panels and the edging strip. The wallstructure is provided at the zone thereof within which the door isreceived when in its closed position with a sealing gasket of heatinsulative material having a plurality of spaced resilient fingersextending from the 'wall structure toward the space to be occupied bythe door when in closed condition, so that such fingers will engage theedging strip of the door along spaced areas of the latter to provideheat insulative air chambers circumscribing the peripheral edge of thedoor, with such fingers being deflected in a direction upwardly of thecabinet to releasably hold the door in its closed condition. Theconstruction is particularly advantageous for use in vending machinecabinets having relatively thin insulated walls and employing an outerdoor as well as an inner door with the latter being insulated, ofthickness substantially equal to that of the main cabinet wall structureand desirably mountable in manner such that it will clear the accessopening to the cabinet when the doors are opened.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUFEB 1 sieve lNVliN'l 0R3. Wilberf 0.O'Nea/ 76 BY Warren K. Wesfon flTTORNEYS.

INSULATED CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR VENDING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Thisinvention relates to vending and dispensing machines and, moreparticularly, to improved constructions for heat insulative doors and toimproved structure for effecting a heat seal and releasable holdingforce between such doors and the main wall assembly of an insulatedcabinet.

In many types of vending and dispensing machines employing an insulatedcabinet in conjunction with means for refrigerating the interior of thecabinet or otherwise maintaining such interior at a temperature otherthan ambient, it is necessary that a closure door be provided that mayconveniently be opened for servicing but which, when closed, willminimize the transmission or leakage of heat to and from the interior ofthe cabinet. Conventional approaches to solving such a problem havegenerally followed the course of providing relatively heavy and bulkydoors of heat insulated construction such as have been developed andutilized in the refrigerator art. Conventional constructions have alsogenerally attempted to effect sealing between the insulated door and themain cabinet structure by providing a compression gasket or the like oneither the door itself or upon a portion of the main cabinet wallstructure which will, as the door is closed, be compressed between therear panel of the door and the main wall structure of the cabinet forthe purpose of effecting an intended seal. With such constructions, itis customary to provide some form of manually operable latchingstructure to maintain the door in its closed position against theopposing bias of the compressed sealing gasket between the door and themain wall structure of the cabinet.

Such conventional constructions, although apparently suita ble for usein home refrigerators or the like, suffer from a number of disadvantageswhich becor'ne relatively critical when applied to insulated cabinetsfor vending or dispensing machines. For example, in the latter type ofequipment, there are normally demanding space limitations upon theoverall size of the apparatus, and commercial considerations require amaximum use of the available space so that the cabinet may store andcondition for dispensing as many articles as possible. Both because ofthe large number of articles whose temperature must be conditioned asquickly as possible following filling of the machine by a serviceman andbecause of the need for close temperature control of articles to becommercially dispensed, a high degree of efficiency in the cooling orother temperature conditioning operation of the machine is essential andheat leakage that might be permissible in a domestic appliance becomesintolerable. In view of the necessity for rather frequent access to theinterior of a dispensing or vending machine by service or operatingpersonnel, who may tend to be careless about relatching an access doorin fully closed position for accomplishing an effective heat seal, themanual latching assemblies used in domestic appliances and previousvending and dispensing equipment result in practice in lost ef ficiencyof the cooling or other temperature conditioning process.

In the construction of vending machine cabinets which are to have a heatinsulated interior, it has been found desirable from the economic andmanufacturing viewpoint to employ the superior insulating and structuralcharacteristics of foam type insulation in forming the primary walls ofthe cabinet, and this also permits such walls to be of a lesserthickness than previously deemed necessary. In such cabinets, it isconventional to employ both an inner and an outer door, the inner doorpreferably being of a thickness substantially the same as that of themain walls of the cabinet and being both of heat insulating characterand adapted to close the access opening to the interior of the cabinetand effect a heat seal isolating the interior of the cabinet fromambient external temperature factors. The outer door carries variousoperative portions of the vending machine mechanism, is spaced forwardlyfrom the inner door to accommodate such mechanisms therebetween, andusually is not of heat-insulated construction. The inner and outer doorsare independently hinged upon the cabinet,

and it is vital that both of such doors be attached to swing entirelyclear of the access opening of the cabinet to permit proper introductionand removal of structural parts or products to and from the interior ofthe cabinet during servicing. It has been found, however, that it isdifficult, if not impossible, to obtain proper hinging and clearance forthe inner door when opened and proper heat sealing between the innerdoor and the main cabinet walls with constructions in which an innerdoor of thickness similar to the thickness of the main cabinet walls ismounted to effect an abutting seal with the front of the main cabinetwalls, at least in any construction in which the sides of the cabinetextend forwardly to provide a mounting for the outer door and anenclosure for the mechanism carried by the latter in substantiallycoplanar relationship with the more rearward portions of the sides ofthe cabinet housing the insulated portion of the latter.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide animproved insulated cabinet construction for vending machines or the likein which the aforementioned and other disadvantages inherent inconventional equipment are overcome. I

It is another important object of the invention to provide such acabinet construction which employs a minimum number of relatively simplestructural elements that may be manufactured and assembled with greatereconomy than heretofore possible, as well as attaining a higherefficiency in the performance of the intended functions.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cabinet constructionemploying an improved form of heat insulative door in which a pair ofspaced panels and a peripheral edging strip define an initially hollowdoor assembly that is filled with heat insulative foam material, withthe panels, the edging strip and the foam filling all suitablymechanically interlocked with each other.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a cabinetconstruction in which the edge strip of the door is of heat insulativematerial and is engaged by a plurality of resilient fingers of a heatinsulative gasket structure upon the walls of the cabinet to perform thedual function of providing a truly effective heat seal between the doorand the cabinet walls when the door is closed and of providing anautomatic releasable means for holding the door in its closed positionthrough interengagement with the door along its edge portions.

Still other important objects of the invention will be made clear orbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the drawings and thedescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention that follows. Itshould be noted that, although the improved cabinet construction of theinvention possesses special utilities and advantages when employed inheat insulative cabinets used in commercial product dispensing orvending applications, many of the principles of the invention could alsobe employed to advantage in domestic appliances or the like.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on a horizontalplane and looking downwardly through a preferred embodiment of a cabinetconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, elevational view, with certain parts shown invertical cross section, of a portion of such cabinet particularlyillustrating certain details of one manner of hinging both an outerpanel door and an inner heat insulative door upon a main cabinet wallassembly;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view showing the relationshipbetween the sealing gasket structure that circumscribes the zone forreceiving the inner, heat insulative door in closed position with aportion of the wall structure of the main cabinet assembly, the fingerson the sealing gasket being shown in the positions they normally occupywhen not engaged by the inner door, and it being understood that therela-' tionship between the sealing gasket and the wall structure of themain cabinet assembly is essentially the same at the top,

bottom and both sides of the opening for receiving the inner door; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, exploded, perspective view, with certain partscut away and shown in cross section, of a corner portion of the panelsand edging strip elements of the inner door prior to filling of suchdoor with heat insulative foam material,

Referring to the drawings of the preferred embodiment, the overallimproved cabinet construction is generally designated by the numeral 10.The cabinet broadly includes insulated side, top, bottom, and rear walls12, presently a chamber 14 therewithin having a frontal opening 16, aninner door assembly 18, an outer door assembly 20, and a hinge structure22 swingably mounting the doors 18 and 20 upon the cabinet 10.

Since the constructions of the cabinet walls 12 may be substantiallyidentical about all of the closed faces of the chamber 14, only certainof the walls 12 are included in the drawings for illustrative purposes.The sidewalls 12 illustrated in FIG. 1 are typical and include an innerpanel 24, an outer panel 26 spaced therefrom, and a heat insulativefilling of foam material 28 therewithin. Although various foam materialscould be used, a self-curing, rigid polyurethane foam has been foundquite satisfactory. The walls 12 may have the cavity between the panels24 and 26 thereof filled with the initially liquid foam material througha tube, with the material then being frothed in place and permitted tocure itself thereupon such material not only becomes rigid but adheresto the interfaces of the panels 24 and 26. To provide a more positiveinterlocking between the panels 24 and 26 and the foam material 28, thepanels 24 and 26 may respectively be provided with foam lockingstructures as at 30 and 32, which are metal elements connected to thepanels in any suitable fashion as by spotwelding or tapping screws,which structures 30 and 32 include bent-out portions that extend intothe main body of the foam material 28 to interlock the parts when thefoam filling 28 has become rigid.

The panels 26 at opposite sides of the cabinet 10 include forwardportions 34 and 36 at the opposite sides of the cabinet 10, and theseare suitably interconnected and braced with forward extensions 38 of thefoam locking structures 32.

It will be noted that the portions 34 and 36 of panels 26 extendforwardly of the opening 16 in the insulated part of the cabinet 10 todefine a chamber 40 therewithin between the doors 18 and 20. In vendingequipment the front panel door 20, which need not be heat insulated,customarily carries on its rear face various mechanisms generallyindicated as enclosed within a housing 42 on the back of the door 20,which mechanisms form a part of the control portions of the vendingmachine, such as devices for testing deposited coinage, devices formaking change, switching means for making product selections andassociated electrical circuitry, etc. It will be understood that certainof such mechanisms generally indicated as supported on the rear of door20 as within the housing 42 are not adapted for optimum operation withina cold or heated environment, so that the provision of separate innerand outer doors 18 and 20 with a space 40 therebetween for accommodatingsuch mechanisms is necessary.

The outer door 20 may be swingably mounted upon a hinge pin 44 carriedby a bracket 46 mounted on the forwardly extending portions 34 and 38 ofone main sidewall 12, the door 20 being provided with a hinge leaf 48pivoted on the pin 44. The inner door 18 is preferably hinged upon thesame pivotal axis as I the door 20, by means of a bracket assembly 50suitably secured to the inner door 18 and extending forwardly to a hingeleaf 52 upon the pin 44. The opposite edge 54 of the outer door 20,which also is typical of the top and bottom edges thereof, may beconfigured in any suitable fashion for effecting a closure with theforward extremity 56 of the uninsulated forwardly extended portion 36 ofthe corresponding side, top or bottom wall 26 of the cabinet 10. Sincethe outer, front panel door 20 need not be heat insulative in character,any suitable and conventional means for holding the same in closedposition may be provided, but this is not specifically illustrated sinceit forms no part of the present invention.

Turning attention now to the improved inner door assembly 18 provided bythe invention, such door includes an outer or front metallic panel 58having a peripheral flange 60, an opposed rear metallic panel 62 havinga peripheral flange 64 in spaced opposed relationship to the flange 60,an edging strip 66 extending completely around the periphery of thepanels 58 and 62, and a foam filling 68 within the interior spacedefined by the panels 58 and 62 and the edging strip 66. The edgingstrip has a substantially flat outer surface 70 thereon and, on itsopposite face, is provided with a protuberance 72 having an end portion74 of enlarged cross section extending along the center of the strip 66.Adjacent each of the margins of the strip 66 is an integral resilienthooklike element 76 adapted to receive the corresponding flange 60 or 64between such element 76 and a corresponding marginal portion of thestrip 66. In order to provide both the desired heat insulative qualitiesand the desired resiliency, it is preferred that the edging strip 66 beformed by extrusion from a relatively rigid type of plastic material ofwhich a number are widely known and available on the market.

It will be noted in FIG. 4 that the flange portions 60 and 64 of panels58 and 62 are preferably provided at suitable intervals with a pluralityof tabs 78 stamped and bent inwardly from the corresponding flange 60 or64. Such tabs 78 are adapted to be received within the hook elements 76and to interlock therewith to supplement the adhesive effects of thefoam filling 68 in holding the various elements of the inner door 18together. For the same purpose, each of the panels 58 and 62 willpreferably be provided with a number of foam lock structures, one ofwhich is shown at 80 in FIG. 1 for purposes of illustration. The lockingstructure 80 may be screwed as at 82 or otherwise suitably fastened tothe panel 58 or 62 with which it is associated, and it is provided withopposed ends 84 and 86 angularly extending into the foam filling 68 tomore securely interconnect the panels 58 or 62 with the filling 68.

The described construction for the inner door 18 provides a doorassembly that is easy and relatively inexpensive to fabricate, that isextremely strong from the structural viewpoint, that is highly efficientfor heat insulating purposes, and that is relatively thin and consumes aminimum amount of the available space.

Referring next particularly to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIG. 1, itwill be seen that each of the top, bottom and side walls 12 defining thechamber 14 within the insulated portion of the cabinet 10 carriesadjacent and in circumscribing relationship to the open front of chamber14, a sealing gasket member generally designated 88. The gasket member88 includes a striplike base wall 90 having a marginal and 92 receivedbetween a bent-under portion 94 along the forward extremity of the panel24 and the forwardmost portion 96 of the locking structure 30. Theopposite marginal portionof the wall 90 extends outwardly at 98 and isreceived between the extension 38 of locking structure 32 and an opposedbracket element 100 spotwelded or otherwise suitably secured, to theextension 38. It may be noted that the walls 12 of cabinet 10 arepreferably assembled by the use of a fixture (not shown) that engagesthe panels 24 and 26 to hold the panels in their desired relativepositions while the foam material 28 is being emplaced and curedtherebetween. Such fixture also main tains the pockets between theportions 94 and 96 of the panel 24 and between the extension 38 and theelement 100 clear of foam material during the emplacement and curing ofthe material 28, so that the marginal portions of the gasket member 88may be inserted therein after the curing of material 28 has beencompleted. The gasket 88 is preferably also bonded to the adjacentsurfaces of the foam material 28 by the use of any suitable cementduring installation of the gasket 88. Although the gasket 88 may be madefrom any suitable heat insulative, resiliently pliable material, it hasbeen found that either rubber or certain plastic materials havingsimilar characteristics are most satisfactory.

The gasket 88 is provided with a plurality of resilient, striplikefinger portions 102 extending inwardly from the surface 104 of wall 90bounding the opening 16 in chamber 14. In FIG. 3, the finger strips 102are shown in their normal and unflexed positions. It will be noted thatthe base portion 90 of the gasket member 88 is disposed in the preferredembodiment at an angle slightly flaring to-enlarge the cross section ofthe opening 16 at the forward extremity thereof remote from the chamber14 and that the fingers 102 are of correspondingly greater dimensionextending from the base of the gasket 88 as the flared extremity of theopening 16 remote from the chamber 14 is approached; such flaring of thegasket 88 and such dimensioning of the finger strips 102 are desirableto facilitate easy reception and withdrawal of the inner door 18 fromits closed position. In FIG. 1 the finger strips 102 are shown in theflexed positions that they assume when the inner door 18 is swung intothe opening 16. In the latter condition, it will be noted that thefinger strips 102, in conjunction with the edging strip 66 on the innerdoor 18, define and enclose therebetween elongated air pockets 106 whichserve, in conjunction with the insulative properties of the edging strip66 and the gasket fingers 102 themselves, to provide thermal insulationfor the chamber 14 throughout the space circumscribing the inner door 18between the latter and the adjacent wall structures 12 of the cabinet10.

It will also be observed that with the improved constructions andrelationships contemplated by the invention, the finger strips 102engage the inner door 18 only along the peripheral surface of the latterpresented by the face 70 of the edging strip 66. Accordingly, the innerdoor 18 itself need not fit tightly into any rigid peripheral casingprovided by the wall structures 12 of cabinet 10, thereby eliminatingtolerance problems that can be quite critical in large cabinetsmanufactured with conventional constructions. Moreover, the fingerstrips 102 are not compressed or otherwise located or configured topresent a force tending to move the inner door 18 toward an openposition once it has been closed, which as previously noted can resultin inadvertent leakage of heat and moisture vapor in conventionalconstructions when service personnel fail to fully seat and latch theinsulated door of a refrigerated cabinet. Rather, the resilient fingerstrips 102 perform the important second function of providing automaticmeans for releasably holding the inner door in its closed position, yetpermitting such door to be quickly and easily opened whenever desired.This function is accomplished by the fact that, as the inner door 18 ispushed toward its closed position, the finger strips 102 are flexed inthe directions indicated in FIG. 1, whereupon the interengagement by thestrips 102 and the surface 70 of the edging strip 66 serve to securely,but releasably, hold the inner door 18 in its closed position untilservice personnel desire to open the same.

The employment of heat insulative materials for the edging strip 66 ofthe inner door 18 and for the gasket structure 88 greatly enhance theheat-insulating efficiency of the overall construction, since there isno metallic part to provide a heat conduction surface in communicationwith both the heat conditioned chamber 14 and the exterior ofthe cabinet10.

Thus, it will be seen that this invention, as illustrated by thepreferred embodiment chosen to be shown and described, employs noveltypes, arrangements and relationships of structural elements toaccomplish the aforementioned objectives of the invention and toovercome the disadvantages that have long been inherent in the types ofinsulated cabinet constructions that have heretofore been conventional.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various minormodifications or changes could be made from the exact details of theconstruction explained for illustrative purposes without departing fromthe true spirit or essence of the invention. Accordingly, it should beunderstood that it is intended for the invention to be deemed limitedonly by scope of a fair interpretation of the claims that follow.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is: i

1. An insulated cabinet com rising: insulated wall structure de lnmg achamber having an access opening therein;

a pair of spaced, opposed panels each having a peripheral flangeextending toward but spaced from the flange of the other panel;

edging strip means of resilient heat insulative material extending alongthe peripheries of said panels and provided with elements thereon forgripping said flanges between said elements and proximal other portionsof said strip means to interconnect said panels in said spacedrelationship;

a substantially rigid filling of heat insulative material between saidpanels secured to said panels and said strip means;

means swingably mounting the assembly including said panels, strip meansand filling upon said structure to present a door movable into and awayfrom said opening;

a gasket member having a base portion mounted on said structure incircumscribing relationship to the periphery of said opening; and

a plurality of spaced finger strips of resilient heat insulativematerial on said base portion of said member in circumscribingrelationship to said opening and normally extending inwardly toward anopposite portion of the opening,

said resilient strips being disposed to be engaged ;by the peripheraledge only of said door when the latter is closed.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said panels and said strip meansare each provided with structure thereon extending into said filling tointerlock said panels, strip means and filling.

3. In the invention of claim 1, wherein said panels are formed of heatconductive metal; said strip means and said elements thereon areintegrally formed of relatively rigid plastic material; and said filleris formed of foam plastic material adhered to said panels and stripmeans.

4. The invention of claim 1, wherein said base portion of said memberflares outwardly as the extremity thereof remote from the interior ofthe cabinet is approached; and said finger strips are of greater sizealong the dimension thereof extending inwardly of said opening as saidextremity of said member is approached.

5. The invention of claim 1, wherein said finger strips are integrallyconnected with said base portion of said member.

1. An insulated cabinet comprising: insulated wall structure defining achamber having an access opening therein; a pair of spaced, opposedpanels each having a peripheral flange extending toward but spaced fromthe flange of the other panel; edging strip means of resilient heatinsulative material extendiNg along the peripheries of said panels andprovided with elements thereon for gripping said flanges between saidelements and proximal other portions of said strip means to interconnectsaid panels in said spaced relationship; a substantially rigid fillingof heat insulative material between said panels secured to said panelsand said strip means; means swingably mounting the assembly includingsaid panels, strip means and filling upon said structure to present adoor movable into and away from said opening; a gasket member having abase portion mounted on said structure in circumscribing relationship tothe periphery of said opening; and a plurality of spaced finger stripsof resilient heat insulative material on said base portion of saidmember in circumscribing relationship to said opening and normallyextending inwardly toward an opposite portion of the opening, saidresilient strips being disposed to be engaged by the peripheral edgeonly of said door when the latter is closed.
 2. The invention of claim1, wherein said panels and said strip means are each provided withstructure thereon extending into said filling to interlock said panels,strip means and filling.
 3. In the invention of claim 1, wherein saidpanels are formed of heat conductive metal; said strip means and saidelements thereon are integrally formed of relatively rigid plasticmaterial; and said filler is formed of foam plastic material adhered tosaid panels and strip means.
 4. The invention of claim 1, wherein saidbase portion of said member flares outwardly as the extremity thereofremote from the interior of the cabinet is approached; and said fingerstrips are of greater size along the dimension thereof extendinginwardly of said opening as said extremity of said member is approached.5. The invention of claim 1, wherein said finger strips are integrallyconnected with said base portion of said member.